Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-09-14
LADIES OF The HAREM.
HOME LIFE SCARCELY EXISTS
FOR THE MOHAMMEDAN.
The Moslem and His Harem-Social
Customs in Various Coun-
tries of the East.


kind with the Holy of HOLES at Mecca.
The lnnermost shrine Of his temple and
the rooms with latticed windows are both
called by the same name Of hare,n or sacred
The apartment is harem, and the ladies
who live in it are harem for all but the
lord and master. He may enter at will
but generally announces his coming before
hand, so that he may not run the risk of
meeting female visitors, who are probably
the wives of his friends In well regulated
houses the husband intrudes only at fixed
houns, perhaps for a short time after mid
day prayer, and does not else favor his
harem till he retires to rest. Home life
such as we understand it can scarcely be
said to exist for the Mohammedan. The
man lives In and at his work outside and
the woman among her slaves and friends in
the harem
In many respects the harems of Constan
tlnopie are allowed greater liberty than
those OF Egypt and Persia The ladies of
Stamboul are much addicted to walking.
whereas those of Cairo are never seen in
the streets on foot. At the Sweet Waters
the harems stray over the meadows or pic
me on the banks of the Kiaght Khaneh
stream, with the fresh air blowing round
them. The Egyptian danes, however,
can never stir except in their carriages
and can only view the world and their
neighbors from the windows of broug-
ham. The Bezetan of STEAMBOAT is daily
honored by great ladies, who also think no
evil OF riding in the public tramears be-
tween Galata and Pera; but an Egyptian
harem who attempted to mix with the
crowd in such promiscuous fashion would
be promptly banned. In other WAYS, how
ever, especially since the days of ismail
Pasha, the harem of Carlo has opened its
eyes considerably to what goes on beyond
It's proper ken.
The wives and families of foreign resi-
dents and travellers put down the various
high harems on their visiting lists and the
bi-weekly promenades on the Shoobra and
Gezireh avenues give the yelled ones an
opportunity of seeing in the flesh person
ages Of whom they are perpetualIy hearing
stories and anecdotes. 1t also gives the
men a chance of having this and that
khanem pointed out to them as they whirl
past in their neat little carriages till each
gets to know the other by sight at least
tolerably well. The opera and the after
noon promenade are the chief excitement
OF Egyptian harem life. The Cairo opera
house. built by the late khediye in style
commensurate with the lavish disregard of
expense which marked his reign. is fitted
with dozen boxes on the second tier
whose fronts are framed with gauzy
screen, enabling the occupants to watch the
play and the house, and supposed to pre-
vent the house from watching them. The
sparkling OF bright eyes and diamonds are
nevertheless apt to attract discreet atten-
ton, and a powerful glass nearly ami
hilates the screen, SO that the beauties in
reality come not only TO see but to be seen,
like their western sisters round them. A
separate entrance leads up to the harem
boxes, and after the fall of the curtain the
harem don their habarahs and steal out to
their carriages by a back way, where it is
whispered that many a note and bonbon-
Mere await them on their passage.
The afternoon drive is also an imaginary
contact with the world, though as q mat
ter of fact, the ladies might as well be at
home. At o'clock or Whereabouts, natty
little brougham, drawn by q pair of long
tailed Russian horses, drives up to the door
and the ladies, for they almost invariably
drive two and two-a great lady accom-
panied by a friend or a slave girl-are as
sisted into the carriage with as much care
as if they were made of snow The more
scrupulous ones will even hold a parasol
between their faces and the coachman TO
prevent contamination from side glances.
Most of them, however, start with the full
intent to be seen as much as possible, and
after settling themselves down on the satin
cushions and assuring themselves that the
mirror is well busted, the cigarettes and
matches In their places, the chocolate
creams or nougat fresh from the bakery,
and the bouquet sweet and properly ar
ranged slip off the habarah and are ready
to front the gaze Of the curious. The
thinnest Of yashmals covers the reddest of
lips, and the chin and well kohled eyes
keep sharp lookout for exchange of COM
pliments with passers by.
The wives of the pashas do not wear the
Turkish transparent yashmak, but cover
their mouths and the lower part of the face
with cambria or cotton burghoo tied
round the back of the head. The Shoobra
and Gezireh drives are to Cairo much what
the Row is to London, and all the young
beys and pashas don their best, and either
caracole forth on their prancing steeds, or,
more luxuriously are driven in the train
of the harems. If the lady chooses to ex-
change flowers, notes, cigarettes or even
conversation, no hindrance is likely to be
offered by the black janitor on the box seat
of the driver But talking must be done
in private, and some side walk or other
wise secluded spot must be chosen for any
thing more than flying passing compli-
ment. For in the East every man is the
guardian, not only of his own hareln, but
also of everybody else A man may thrash
his own wife to death, with very doubtful
chances of anybody intervening, but he
may not look at his neighbours harem.-
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